Image: Stop the War Coalition
By Lizzie Eldridge
So.
I’m watching a webinar
about how to grow
your business.
The language is new age,
pseudo-spiritual.
Right in the middle,
some Israeli guy pops up
to illustrate how well
his business grew,
how it’s something anyone can do.
Right in the middle of a genocide,
an Israeli guy is used
to persuade me
this is a path worth pursuing
and that I should put
all my basic core principles
aside.
The Israeli guy
popped up
without a health warning,
without qualification
or explanation
or apology.
When I messaged the crystal-gazing
business-minded hippies,
reminding them that Israel
is a terrorist state
breaking every international law
under the sun
and murdering babies,
children, women and men
to satisfy their depravity,
this was the reply –
“I really appreciate you
taking the time
to explain
how that moment
landed for you.
I’m genuinely sorry
it caused discomfort.
That was never our intention.
We don’t take political stances
in our work
and the example was chosen
purely for business context,
not to endorse any country.
government or actions.”
How does industrial-scale genocide
land for you
and how does business as usual
work
when adopting a position of neutrality
in a decimated landscape
of rubble
bones
of bloody shrouds
and decomposing corpses?
